Perfect in my Mind

Perfect in my Mind

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Beauty School Dropout. Literally, guys.

I was telling my family this story last night, and  they encouraged me to document it.  It's pretty much the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to anyone, and I honestly can't believe I'm actually posting this.  

When I was in high school, I always auditioned for the musicals.  Even though I was never a major character, I enjoyed participating in the play rehearsals and getting all dolled up for opening night.  As a sophomore, I was a part of the musical Grease.  I can't dance (zero coordination), and I can't act, but I can sing . . . so I was a member of the chorus.  The highlight of the play, for me, was the musical number "Beauty School Dropout," and I was pumped to be one of the "beauty school angels."  

The choreography of the piece was simple, but it involved running up a couple of stairs which were adjacent to the main stage.  In high heels.  And a fifties period dress.  Although I was apprehensive, the rehearsals went really well, and when opening night came, I was feeling confident.

So, there I was.  My hair was curled, my dress fit perfectly, and my shoes looked awesome.  The music started playing, and the other "angels" and I started running towards the stage and up the stairs.  The following seconds felt like minutes.  

As I made my way up the second stair, my shoe caught on an old nail and I ended up falling off of the stage.  Remember how I was wearing a dress?  Well, the dress fell with me, and ended up revealing way more than I had anticipated sharing with the audience.  

When I looked up, I was greeted by the flashing lights of cameras, and laughs of an amused high school audience.  Cell phones were in the photo taking position.  I knew I wasn't going to live this one down.

I ended up finishing the number with the other 'angels,' but my pride was pretty bruised.

The next day at school, my incident was the hottest news.  People were saying I wasn't wearing any underwear, and they'd seen everything (not true). It seemed like everyone had either been texted the picture of me falling (no, I don't have a copy of the picture), or had been to the live performance.  My little sister even had people asking her about it at the middle school.  

Terrible.    

When I look back at the situation now, I laugh.  But at the time, I thought I was going to die.  Especially when 5 seniors (out of like 15) chose the incident as their most memorable high school experience for the Senior Display.  

Well, now I've shared.  How about you guys?  What is your most embarrassing moment?


19 comments:

Jenn W. said...

Your most embarrassing moment is much more embarrassing than mine -- mine has something to do with the whole back of my pants being ripped and people at Subway noticing -- and me not noticing!
I hate that gut wrenching embarrassment feeling.

Bethany G said...

Oooh my word! That is AWFUL! Props to you for sharing! ;)

Lisa said...

Okay, first I have to say that if you provided the most memorable high school experience for 1/3 of your class, that is actually kinda cool. Although how big of pathetic losers are they if that's the biggest moment of HS for them?

As for my most embarrassing moment . . . there are oh so many to choose from. The time I climbed a fence with my brand new friends in St. George (we'd lived there for a week) and I snagged my pants and ripped a big hole in the seat. The time I accidentally drew on my face with a black marker while teaching algebra. The time I was twirling baton at my HS homecoming game . . . it was terrible. The time I dressed up as Princess Leia for Halloween and went to a party with black lights . . . that made my under-things light up through the dress. Pretty much every week I take my kids to church. Take your pick. Anyway, love you Chelsea!

Kristen said...

If it makes you feel better I don't remember any of this and I was a senior at the time. I also saw grease opening night. No memory. You are so cute! And what a funny story.

Laura Eve said...

oh yes i had forgotten about this. but maybe i'm missing something, what is the senior display you mentioned, i have no idea what you're talking about? did our school do that?

Chelsea said...

@Laura: Yes! The display case just had a bunch of senior memories in it during the last month of school . . . and this incident was like one third of the board. Ha ha.

Anonymous said...

Chelsea, Just the fact that so soon from your high school years, you can now look back and laugh about such an embarrassing situation, says a lot about your character and attitude as a young writer.

One of my most embarrassing moments was getting kissed as a naive sophomore, with the lights just turned on, in front of all my high school buddies by the town's loosest young lady at a Valentines dance. She had been put up to it by my football team and she planted one square on my mouth with no one else on the dance floor just as the lights were all turned on in the gym.

So there I was, known for being a non-physical, shy farmboy with the town slut, in a full lip-lock. My face was redder than the giant valentine on the wall set for decoration. The laughter and jeers haunted me for years. But now , man years later, I look back on it as a good prank where my high school friends got me but good.

Kristen Thornburg said...

hahaha...awww!!! Poor girl!!!!

April said...

OH, thats terrible and so funny!
One of my most embarrassing moments is when I was going to get out of the pool one time my top completely fell off. haha I thought I was going to die! So embarrassing.

XO

Autumn @ Autumn All Along said...

I had just seen a scary movie where things come out of the water and kill you...

I went to the bathroom in a restaurant and the electricity went out. I started screaming in the bathroom and after I realized the door wasn't opening I started banging and screaming louder.

That's when one of my guy friends opened the door using his cell phone light...and I realized I had been pulling instead of pushing the door open. The whole restaurant thought I was dying in the bathroom.

Hahaha funny now, but yours totally tops it.

Maggie B. said...

Everyone has had one of those moments.... mine was similar... during my final 'jury' my freshman year of college (a jury is a performance done in front of a bunch of music department faculty members and it counts as a huge portion of your grade). The jury was in the 'attic' of the music department building. It was May. It was 100 degrees, and the a/c was broken. But I looked super cute and performed my solo flawlessly. I was so impressed with myself. And when it was over, i took a bow, thanked everyone, turned to leave and promptly walked out of my shoe. And fell down. In front of the music faculty. And my shirt flew up over my head. So not only did I fall down, I flashed all my teachers.

And then they wrote about it in the comments section of my jury form. I wanted to die...

So see, you're not alone! :)

Alexis Kaye said...

I more consistently embarrass myself then limit it to just a few instances. My senior year I fell on stage at the dance concert. It was cool though, because it gave me a subject for all my papers to write that year. I have a million other small ones. Or just dumb things. Like in high school when I was talking to my friend ex boyfriend and forwarding her all his texts and accidently texted him something that was meant for her. Oh gosh, I was dumb.

McKinley {Haolepinos} said...

That. was. AMAZING!!!! The best part is that you can own it and laugh at it!! That is a great story and I applaud you for sharing it!

I can't think of any moments that are embarrassing at the time but if any pop up I will be sure to tell you!

PS thank you for your sweet comment! It seriously made me so happy! You are really very kind!

Annette said...

I wrote an essay entitled "My Life is My Most Embarrassing Moment" so read it next time you're here. I also remember being at the dentist and having laughing gas...I screamed out, "I'M DYING!!!!"...I'm sure the dentist appreciated her patients hearing that.

tegan said...

awwh thanks so much for my sweet comment - i'm following you too ><
i love grease! but how awful for you!
my most embarrassing moment is the first time i got really drunk at a friend's house party. my friends carried me upstairs to get me dressed for bed - left me in the bathroom for 5 minutes and when i came out i had my pyjamas all on my head and only my knickers on my bottom half! i remember nothing - but of course they all have photographic evidence which has been shown around school :(

your blog is so cute by the way :)

xx

Sara SHOEmaker said...

hahaha this is hilarious. The main girl in all the movies always has something like that happen to her, ya know? So you're basically living a movie! I'm glad you can laugh about it now :) thanks for your sweet comment! and I tend to block out my embarrassing moments so I can't remember any at the moment haha.

Mikelle Jade said...

oh geez. that's horrible. I haven't had anything quite as exciting/terrifying, so I tend to block out and instantly forget the embarrassing moments in my life. I'm glad you lived through that nightmare-- good thing high school is over!

P! said...

Oh my gosh- hahahaha! I know I shouldn't be laughing so hard, but the way you wrote it made it impossible not to picture and crack up about LOL! As a fellow theatre fan, I know how embarrassing it can be to have a big mistake happen ON STAGE- been there! My embarrassing moment occurred at a school swimming pool in front of my whole class with a major swimsuit malfunction due to changing in a major rush. Enough said. Seriously, this post made my day! Hahaha- thanks for sharing this story and brightening my day! :)

Courtney B said...

Haha oh Chelsea, I would totally want to die!! That is such a great story to tell now though!! Thanks for making my day better with this :)
I can't remember if you saw it.. but if you've ever seen Shalyn's blog (laugh until your cheeks hurt) I posted my most embarrassing story ever haha!